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While the size he brings to the table is unmatched, he has been rather inconsistent throughout the season. He also doesn’t play the body as well as he should, given his stature.

Mantha does play the game smart though. He is poised with the puck and is great at finding open teammates up the ice. He has a strong outlet pass from his own zone. His skating has been somewhat of an issue, but nothing a little determination won’t fix. He has a blast from the point. Mantha also has great reach, as would be expected since he’s 6’5″.

“Mantha has good bloodlines and impressive size. Handles the puck well and makes a strong breakout pass. Uses his reach and strength to defend. He needs to work on his transition and overall mobility as well as improve his physical play as he comes off as somewhat soft. (November 2013)”

“Has been man-sized since he was 16, and was converted to a dman due to his size and temperament. Has a big hard shot, and is good at getting the puck to his mates. He will need more lateral ability to close better, but he does a fine job of clearing the front and protecting teammates. Was named to the USA Developmental team playing in the Ivan Hlinka Tournament. Was named to the U.S. World Junior A roster for the Junior A Challenge.“

In the NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary rankings of 2014 draft-eligible prospects, Mantha checked in as a ‘B’ skater – the CSS uses A, B and C grades for the players they deem as potential picks next summer.

“I’m pretty excited about this,” Williamson said. “I think he’s going to be a real nice piece to our puzzle. I was looking for a little more size on our back end to go against some of the big forwards and being able to get (Luke) Mercer, (Blake) Siebenaler and (Vince) Dunn away from those guys.

“He’s a big, contained guy. He’s hard to play against and he skates really well. He’s not a punishing defenceman but he plays the position really well. He’s a really good passer. He’s very focused on where he wants to go and he thinks we can help him along the way.”

According to multiple sources, New York Rangers fourth round selection and former North Dakota recruit Ryan Mantha is close to signing with the Niagara IceDogs in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

A New York Rangers source indicated that academics were prohibiting the Clarkston, Mich. native from passing through the NCAA Clearinghouse. His OHL rights were traded from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to the IceDogs earlier this month.

“He’s a big guy who skates really well. We think he can handle all situations. We want our defencemen to be active in the rush and he can do that, because he skates so well,” said Williamson. “He shoots the puck well. We think he’s both stay at home and a bit offensive. He doesn’t let people beat him. Ryan’s not the most punishing defenceman, and you might think that because of his size, but that’s not quite his game. He’s really good at containing, which I think is more important in today’s game. When you’re 6-foot-4 and a big hitter more than likely you’re going to take 10 or 20 game suspensions in our league.”

“The whole process of signing a guy like this is exhausting. You play head games with yourself. Is he coming? Is he not coming? I had a good feel about Ryan, but it took a long time,” admitted Williamson. “His family was very thorough. North Dakota really wanted him there. I think the NHL draft helped us a lot. New York likes their guys coming to our league. They believe he’ll be ready in a couple of years to play in the American Hockey League, so if he’s ready in a couple of years why do you go to school for four years? They took their time and did their due diligence. I respect that, because we do the same thing on players.”

Became a free agent this past summer. Rangers decided not to sign him after back to back 25 point seasons. This year he has 14 goals and 51 points in 58 games. Maybe we gave up on him a little too soon. He signed an ELC with the Oilers today. Oh well. But hey thank god we used a contract to resigne 29 year old Chris Summers to hold down the fort on our last place AHL team instead of giving a 6'5 20 year old a little more time to mature.